17 December 2019

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s ‘Making a Buzz for the Coast’ project, has been awarded first place in a national competition run by the Association for Local Government Ecologists, from a field of over 50 nominees from across the UK.

The award recognises successful collaborative working between organisations who are working in partnership for a positive outcome for biodiversity and protecting wildlife. Making a Buzz for the Coast  works in partnership with Kent County Council, Swale and Thanet District Councils, Kent Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Thames Water to conserve habitats and promote understanding about the nationally important bumblebee populations of Kent. The project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Bumblebees and other wild bees have long economic and cultural associations with Kent as the ‘Garden of England’ linked strongly to the traditions of fruit growing and horticulture, and benefitting from Kent’s mild climate.

Kent is recognised as one of the most important parts of the UK for the diversity of bumblebees, with 22 of the UK’s 24 species recorded in Kent including five species that are rare or vulnerable nationally. The project is helping to strengthen and improve the status of these much-loved and vital pollinating insects, many of which are declining in numbers.

Emma Lansdell, Project Manager for Making a Buzz for the Coast said “The Making a Buzz team and our partners are delighted to be recognised nationally for the important work we are doing to conserve and promote interest in bumblebees and other wild bees – in Kent and beyond.  This award comes at the end of a very busy 2019, and through this recognition, we hope to encourage even more support and public involvement in the final year of the project in 2020.”

The judging panel for the Association of Local Government Ecologists said “We were particularly impressed with Making a Buzz for the Coast’s extensive collaboration with both local government, stakeholders and landowners which has already delivered notable gains in respect of pollinator habitat and wider biodiversity benefits this brings, not to mention the return of rare and threatened bumblebee species to previously unpopulated sites”.

Working along 135 miles along the north Kent coast from Dartford to Deal, the Making a Buzz for the Coast partnership provides advice and support to landowners, and land managers to improve and manage flower-rich habitats for bumblebees, including grazing marsh and coastal grassland, road verges managed as Bee Roads, farmland and public parks.

The Making a Buzz for the Coast team has trained and supported members of the public from all backgrounds and ages to become bumblebee volunteers who can identify different bumblebee species and carry out surveys including the Trust’s national citizen science scheme BeeWalk. To date the project has engaged over 9,500 members of the public to understand and appreciate the vital importance of bumblebees through workshops and events, including taking action in their own gardens and allotments.

Read more about the project.

9 March 2020

The Trust has published a new position statement on managed honeybees. The statement has been prompted by concerns that, under certain circumstances, managed honeybees can have detrimental impacts on wild pollinator species, including bumblebees.

Our Senior Science & Policy Officer, Darryl Cox, provides the background on why we’ve decided to publish the statement.

Q1. What prompted the Trust to produce the position statement?

There is an increasing body of research which shows that, in some situations, beekeeping can have negative consequences for bumblebees (and potentially other pollinators) by increasing competition for food and by passing on diseases. These negative consequences are most marked in areas where there are fewer flowers or higher densities of honeybee hives, and could potentially be serious where vulnerable populations of wild bees are present. This statement aims to mobilise that research into action and highlights important steps that can be taken by beekeepers, conservationists, and anyone else with an interest in helping bumblebees, to lessen any potential negative impacts of managed honeybees.

Q2. Is all beekeeping bad for wild bees?

No. The message is not that beekeeping is bad, and it’s definitely not something we want to avoid or prevent. Our aim with this statement is to help inform people of best practice and encourage responsible beekeeping and well-thought-out hive placement. Keeping honeybees is important economically for honey and wax production, and for pollination of some crops and wild plants, as well as being firmly embedded in our culture. Several of the Trust’s staff and supporters are beekeepers, and are also some of the biggest advocates for wild bee conservation. The important bit is finding the middle ground that balances wild bee conservation and beekeeping, and making sure that rare wild bees aren’t inadvertently harmed.

Q3. What are the main recommendations?

The main recommendation is to take a precautionary approach to how we do beekeeping so that we do not accidentally end up causing problems for our wild pollinator communities. Five specific recommendations are made in the statement which outline how the precautionary principle can be applied in practice.

The position statement is available here. 

16 March 2020

Dr Amir Khan, star of Channel 5’s ‘GPs Behind Closed Doors’ and keen conservationist has joined forces with two leading UK wildlife charities to urge people to become ‘Nature Doctors’ in their own gardens by planting for pollinators this year.

Dr Khan is working alongside Bumblebee Conservation and Butterfly Conservation Trust to launch a new campaign asking people to set up their own ‘Insect A&E’ areas in their gardens for the benefit of the nation’s struggling pollinators. Places where these threatened but vitally important insects can rest, recuperate and rejuvenate.

According to a recent survey, 84% of UK adults are concerned about damage to the natural environment, and 56% about local biodiversity. Many are keen to take action to tackle these problems but need advice on which plants to grow in their own gardens to support our native biodiversity.

The good news is that this advice is now freely available and easily accessible in a handy, downloadable plant guide with information about how best to help butterflies, moths, and bumblebees across the UK.

www.butterfly-conservation.org/insectae

Dr Khan says:

“As a nature lover, I am delighted to join with these brilliant organisations in asking people to act now for wildlife. Simply by choosing some of these plants, people’s gardens can become a haven for pollinators, or even… a hospital they can recover in. Anyone can build an Insect A&E and help these amazing and precious creatures.

Plus being in nature has many tangible beneficial physical and mental effects so why not get out there, relax and reconnect with nature by planting your own Insect A&E? It’s so easy and it helps so much”

Butterflies, moths and bumblebees are an essential part of our eco-system. They are an important element of the food chain and are prey for birds, bats and other insectivorous animals. Their habitat is rapidly decreasing and their numbers are declining and so we must act now to help them rest, recuperate and rejuvenate in our own gardens.

CEO of Butterfly Conservation commented:

“We are very excited to join forces with Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Dr Khan not only to raise awareness of the threats to our amazing insects but also to offer workable options for people keen to attract pollinators into their gardens. It is wonderful when one can live alongside the beauty of nature and enjoy its many physical and mental benefits. We hope that people across the UK will set up Insect A&Es to help sustain and support our very important and beautiful insects”.

In the UK at present, three quarters of butterfly and two-thirds of moth species are in decline.

Gill Perkins, CEO, Bumblebee Conservation Trust said, “Any initiative to help provide food for bumblebees and other pollinators is welcome! We know that every little helps when it comes to providing food sources for bees. It’s important for people to grow the right type of bee-friendly flowers and the information available through ‘Insect A&E’ helps people make the right choices for the planet’s health.”

If people make small changes to their gardens they can achieve a massive change for nature. So, join in today, visit this page and become a Nature Doctor!

30 July 2019 

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is proud to be part of ‘Backyard Nature’, a nationwide drive to help children connect with nature.

‘Backyard Nature’ is inspired by the Eco Emeralds, a group of young environmentalists from Anfield, Liverpool, motivated by recent documentaries including ‘Our Planet’.

Backyard Nature pledges to galvanise communities, and empower the children that live in them to act as nature guardians for their patch, no matter how small. It has committed to encourage and support a million hours spent in the outdoors, encouraging children to connect with the environment and take action.

The Eco Emeralds approached retailer Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland, inspiring the foundation of the campaign with their plea. Walker was working with community platform Semble to devise ways to help children act as nature guardians and the Eco Emeralds provided the catalyst to activate the campaign. Backyard Nature is funded by the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation and supported by groups including The Wildlife Trusts, WWF, Clarion, Hoop and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. It seeks to provide a practical means of connecting children with the nature on their doorsteps, encouraging them in their roles as the next generation of environmental guardians. Backyard Nature will support all children to take action, regardless of their circumstances.

Richard Walker said: “The nation is waking up to the immediate challenge facing us – far bigger than any of the other issues being discussed in the media at the moment, the environmental crisis has huge implications for us all.

The Eco Emeralds share my belief that the next generation needs to connect with nature and become conservation activists, and their commitment to motivating and enabling others to do this is truly inspiring. I strongly believe that children need to know nature in order to want to protect it, and this campaign is about supporting them to do just that. By encouraging children to spend one million hours in their ‘backyards’, the campaign is committed to truly connecting the next generation with the planet we all need their help to save.”

Gill Perkins, CEO, Bumblebee Conservation Trust said: “We’re delighted to support the Backyard Nature campaign. The aims perfectly match our ongoing work at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust helping and supporting people of all ages to create bumblebee friendly areas, both big and small. It’s up to all of us to make sure our plant pots, gardens, and community greenspaces are bee-friendly to stop today’s common species becoming tomorrow’s rarities.”

Backyard Nature aims to build an army of young nature guardians across the UK and help them protect wildlife on their doorstep. The website asks young people, and their grown-ups, to sign-up online to become Backyard Nature guardians for their area. Once joined, users can find their local patch (with a map highlighting local green spaces), download useful DIY guides and also find conservation events happening nearby. Sign up now.

26 March 2019

A first-of-its kind project offering hope for one of the UK’s rarest bumblebees has been launched on the Peak District moors near Sheffield this month, with support from the National Lottery.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust and the Eastern Moors Partnership – a joint initiative between the National Trust and the RSPB – aim to boost populations of the threatened Bilberry bumblebee by planting 1,000 bilberry plants inside specially designed grazing-proof metal cages on Hathersage Moor.

Bilberry is a vital food source for the declining bumblebee. It flowers in the spring and early summer, before heathers and other moorland plants, and is essential for the bees and their larvae as the nests are established.

Sally Cuckney, Pollinating the Peak Project Manager for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said: “Grazing animals such as sheep and deer find tender young bilberry plants especially tasty, and their constant browsing stunts the plants’ growth. That’s bad news for the Bilberry bumblebee. If grazing is reduced, bilberry does much better.

“This hands-on project is the first attempt to help Bilberry bumblebees and bilberry plants survive and thrive together like this.”

This month, bilberry has been planted across 60 acres of Hathersage Moor, then protected by cages built by Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Eastern Moors volunteers and youth rangers.

Past grazing pressure on the moor has led to a lack of mature bilberry bushes favoured by the bee. The project will build on changes over recent years in how the moor is managed, which have seen bilberry beginning to make a comeback.

The grazing cages will allow Bilberry bumblebees to enter to feed and nest while protecting the growing plants during their early years, by keeping livestock out. They are designed to blend into the landscape and will be left in place, maintained by Eastern Moors volunteers, until the plants are established.

This joint venture is part of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s Pollinating the Peak project, made possible thanks to National Lottery players following a £720,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant.

The initiative will also allow researchers to gather vital new data about the bees, and the plants’ growth. There has only been a handful of Bilberry bumblebee studies, and no research in the Peak District for decades. A general lack of bumblebee records in Derbyshire means the species could be declining faster than has been thought. Tackling this data gap means conservation action can be taken before it’s too late.

This summer, volunteers will begin monitoring bumblebees on Hathersage Moor through the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s national BeeWalk recording scheme – a citizen science survey that provides early warning of bee declines. The volunteers will identify and count bumblebees they see while walking the same fixed route each month between March and October. Eastern Moors volunteers will continue the monitoring in future years.

Bilberry bumblebees have suffered a dramatic decline in recent years. They were once found widely across north and west Britain, but the Peak District is now one of their last strongholds. Even here, this cold-loving upland species is expected to decline further because of climate change.

Also known as the Blaeberry or Mountain bumblebee, the rare bee is found almost exclusively on bilberry-rich moorlands. It has helped keep the bilberry plant alive for centuries through pollination.

The Eastern Moors Partnership, which manages Hathersage Moor on behalf of Sheffield City Council, has now identified the Bilberry bumblebee as a key species indicator – a species that is rapidly affected by environmental changes and so can give early warnings that a habitat is suffering.

Pollinating the Peak is also creating flower-rich habitats, monitoring bumblebees and raising awareness about them across the Peak and Derbyshire. It is run with partners Chatsworth, Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Little Green Space, Moors for the Future Partnership, National Trust, and Peak District National Park.

9 April 2018

A new book hopes to raise public awareness of the plight of the bumblebees, a group of beneficial insects which have suffered huge declines through both historic and ongoing large-scale changes to the way the countryside is managed.

There are more than 250 species of bee in Britain: 24 different bumblebee species, 1 honeybee, and around 225 solitary bee species. Two bumblebee species went extinct in the UK during the 20th century, with a further eight currently endangered. Current research* by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) has identified that numbers are continuing to fall.

‘Bumblebees – an introduction’, a new book written by Trust staff, hopes to address this by raising awareness of the threat to these beautiful, charismatic insects, helping the public spot the rarer ones and encouraging gardeners to plant flowers which will attract them to their gardens. Published on the 9th April, it’s the first book by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and is deliberately aimed at bee-loving beginners. Each species has an in-depth detailed descriptions of key features, possible confusion with other species and ecology.

It’s no exaggeration to say that, if we don’t do something to help them, we will continue to lose our wild bees. Several species are in dramatic decline including the Shrill carder bee, restricted to small pockets in the UK, and the Great Yellow bumblebee, only rarely seen in the far north and west of Scotland.

The book launch is part of a wider campaign to raise awareness of the bumblebees’ plight, which also includes two fundraising events in Somerset and London.

The book can be ordered here.

Lead editor, Dr Nikki Gammans, Project Manager for the Short-haired bumblebee Reintroduction project said: “This is the only current comprehensive guide to cover bumblebees at a beginner’s level. It’s a must for anyone interested in learning more about bumblebees as well as for the existing naturalist. It’s written in straightforward English, so everything you need to know about bumblebees is in one place: ecology, life cycle, declines, ways to help, and the identification of all 24 UK species.

“There is no other entry-level bumblebee book on the market which covers ecology, life cycle and identification altogether. This book will take you from knowing virtually nothing about bumblebees to being able to identify pretty much all of them – it’s accessible to all.”

Gill Perkins, CEO of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said: “Bumblebees are extraordinary creatures and to inspire enthusiasm for them across generations was a challenge the Bumblebee Conservation Trust embraced: the result is this remarkable and rewarding book.

“It has beautiful pictures, makes identification easy, and all of those who have contributed to this book have combined the best of both writing and science. ‘Bumblebees – an introduction’ will serve as a model for good bumblebee knowledge and identification’ across all age groups.”

*Reference: the 2017 BBCT annual BeeWalk report. (2018 report due to be published later this month.)

The book can be ordered here.